Leicestershire man completes bid to visit every European country

Jake Rankine, from Barwell, in Moldova - the final European country he ticked off

A 32-year-old man has completed a challenge he set himself to visit every European country.

Jake Rankine, from Barwell, Leicestershire, finished his challenge by flying to Moldova in March after his trip was delayed by three years due to the Covid pandemic.

His passion was sparked by childhood trips to theme parks in Europe.

His tips for cheap travel include packing light and avoiding school holidays.

Mr Rankine, pictured in Amsterdam, has been travelling across Europe for the past two decades

Mr Rankine, a procurement officer at Aston University, in Birmingham, has travelled the length and breadth of the continent visiting 49 states.

After ticking off a few of the bigger European countries during childhood trips, the theme park enthusiast started visiting top venues across the continent.

"I just started to really enjoy travelling, so I started going to a few more places that didn't have theme parks," he said.

"It then kind of got to the point that I only had a few that I hadn't done, so at that point it became a challenge."

Mr Rankine visited the Hveragerdi Hot Springs in Iceland in 2012

Mr Rankine managed to visit Ukraine, Belarus and Russia before the current war limited access to the countries.

Eventually he was only left with Moldova to mark off.

Mr Rankine visited Croatia in 2013

While staying in the country's capital Chisinau, he visited the world's biggest wine cellar, which houses about one and a half million bottles.

"There's usually something quite unique, wherever you go," he said.

"Most places are what you make of them, so I wouldn't say to stay away from anywhere."

Mr Rankine has now visited about 90 countries across the world and updates his Instagram account whenever he is abroad.